Label Translation Services

Label translations are a key area of our work. We help both retailers and manufacturers to have language appropriate labels. This includes a wide range of applications such as care labelling translation for clothing and textiles, food label translations, and translation of medical and pharma labelling.

Translators and proofreaders are always professional native linguists, post graduate level qualified in translation, and of relevant specialism.

Compliance aspects of label translations

Clients often ask us about legal compliance aspects of label translation. Here are few key points:

1) Accuracy of the source language:

We take every care to provide accurate translations. However, if you mis-describe a product in the source language, the translation will also be mis-describe the product. This is because the job of the translator is to reflect the source text. Let’s consider a specific example. Imagine an ingredient is missing from the original language. The translators have no way of knowing that it should be there. It will therefore also be missing from the translations. If you describe a product as 100% beef, or 100% cotton, these phrases will be reflected in the target languages. This will be the case even if the original is wrong.

2) Compliance issues separate to translation:

Because translators are following the source language, there are often compliance requirements which are separate to translation. For example, let’s consider translating European packaging for the north American market. There are different legislative requirements to adapt the packaging to north American requirements. It isn’t simply a matter of translating the text. For this reason, we recommend clients to check compliance requirements, and not simply to try to reuse packaging from another part of the world. Yes, there is likely to be some commonality, but there are also likely to be some very different requirements.

3) Legal claims

Claims about the nature of the product are often very important from a marketing point of view. However, the legal basis for making a claim about a product may vary from country to country. You may have the right to claim that your UK product has slimming properties, for example. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can make the same claim in the US. It is likely that claims will have to be substantiated in different ways in different legal jurisdictions. Simply translating the text won’t be enough here, you will need to satisfy local requirements.

Next steps for accurate label translations

You are welcome to discuss any aspect of labelling translations. You can use our contact form to send us some brief initial details. Alternatively give us a call on +44 115 9788980, or send an email to enquiries@betterlanguages.com with your required text.

To give a quote we need:

The text, ideally in an editable format such as Word or Excel

Your list of required languages (and any specific locale, e.g. Canadian French or European French)

Your full contact details, including business name and trading address